Kingdom Hearts: Paths of Magic: Light
by Higure Hokousha
Summary: Kairi is kept safe by her friends, like she'd shatter to the touch. When Kairi grows weary of hiding behind others, something is unleashed. Now she learns the secrets of her birth along new paths. Read and Review. Full Summary Inside.Discontinued.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

Summary: Kairi grows to resent the others for imprisonning her in all but name in an attempt to keep her safe. When she reaches the breaking point, something breaks free. Now she explores a new path, discovering truths about herself, and her birth. In the distance a new threat slowly grows.

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_Die_ / _Die - Kairi's thoughts_

"Speech"

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Touch of Darkness

Kairi was stretched out on her bed in Radiant Garden.

_Why am I always useless! Sora and Riku have been gone for months looking for the "dangerous force" the King told us about, of course, he didn't tell us he had no idea what it was! I should be with them, not hanging out with the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee. All I've done is repair a room in the old castle for sleeping quarters._

_Why should I mind, I can live peacefully, safely, while they can protect me, it's what they want me to do._

"I'll go get some fresh air." She said to herself. She stepped outside… only to discover a behemoth waiting outside, panicking, she tried to get back inside, only to find the door locked. Suddenly, Leon jumped in front of her, "Kairi run!" She started to leave, but as Leon was struck by an attack, she saw Sora in her mind, holding back heartless so she could escape… she felt something shatter, suddenly the night sky seemed to blacken. Kairi spun towards the behemoth, feeling herself being consumed by rage.

_No,_ _I shouldn't be running, I'm always running. _

_But Leon can protect me! Why should I fight?_

_I don't want to rely on them, if they had their way I'd never leave my room, I'd just be their to smile when someone came back ok and weep when someone was hurt. They act like I'm not human, like I don't have a life of my own!_

_But I'm a princess of heart, is someone without darkness really human? Can I be expected to exist in and understand darkness and the worlds that have it? _

_Is that my excuse! That I'm a princess of heart, that I can't take care of myself. No, I won't keep doing this, human or not, **I'm done letting them fight my battles, and I'm done being controlled and caged!**_

Turning towards the behemoth, she had no clue what to do, but she was done running. Around her the darkness seemed to coalesce, until, in her hand, appeared a blood-red keyblade longer than ultima weapon, with black markings which seemed to destroy the light around the keyblade. Then, amazingly, she leaped up and in one slash severed the behemoths head. As the behemoth faded into the darkness, she collapsed; the keyblade vanished, to await its mistress' call.

A/N: The first couple chapters will be short. This will improve later.


	2. Prologue Part 2: New Beginnings

New Beginnings

Kairi sat up in her bed. "What happened?" The door opened, Aeris tood there, smiling. "Good to see your awake." She felt odd, like there was something that was alien inside her and yet it felt _right.. "_How are you feeling?" Aeris said, seeing her expression.

"I don't know, I feel fine, but there is something new, something odd."

"Do you remember what happened two days ago?"

"No, I don—I was asleep for two days!"

"Well, it was more sudden for you than Riku or Sora."

"What are you talking about!?"

"The keyblade."

"I don't have a key—," She paused, as memory rushed back, "Why only now?"

"Unfortunately, we don't know."

Reaching out her hand, Kairi focused, and a keyblade like the last one appeared, however, the black was now pale blue, and the red was white, and it emanated light, instead of consuming it. "This isn't the same one."

Aeris seemed equally surprised, "I don't know why it changed…but whatever the case is, you need to learn how to use it properly, and Leon and Cloud are out of town. Sora can help some, but he is a beginner in proper usage of a sword, he just swings wildly. I've also arranged for him to teach you basic magic." Kairi was glad to hear it, she'd been begging to learn for months, but until now had lacked the power to do it. "For now, get some sleep," Aeris ordered. As Kairi nodded off Aeris looked on, smiling slightly, she thought, 'I hope Kairi never needs to fight, a princess of heart shouldn't be forced to, not when she has other people to keep her safe.'

4 hours later…

"Okay Kairi, point the keyblade and say the incantation, 'Fire'." She did a he said, and felt most the energy bleed of without doing anything. Despite this, a fireball rushed towards the target, and set it on fire. "Good job, amazing!" Kairi was shocked, it was pathetic, all that wasted energy, and he didn't even notice. "Let me try again," she said. "All right." Aiming the keyblade, she focused the energy through the keyblade's energy channels, paths that allowed the greatest flow of energy, then concentrated it all at the tip. Focusing only fire-based energy into the blast, then air to help sustain it. "Fire!" A small flaming orb shot out, struck the target, then expanded and turned it to ash in about two seconds. Sora was gaping, and Kairi herself was surprised, was everyone using that rudimentary control of Sora's? Sora regained his composure somewhat and turned to her, "Good job, now let's try physical combat." They went to the practice field and Sora tossed her a wooden sword, to avoid serious injury. Almost immediately he came at her from above, jumping for an aerial strike. Kairi brought up the wooden sword and threw him back, he landed well, his feet sliding back slightly, but not much. He attacked more cautiously this time, slowly pushing forward he put her on the defensive. He was clearly talented, if not well trained. As he moved in to finish her, Kairi reflexively charged her body with wind magic, and warped behind him, the "warp" actually involved moving at an extremely high speed, but served the same purpose. Bringing around her sword she knocked his legs out from under him, struck his side full force, then drove her blade towards his throat for the killing blo—_No, what am I doing? _Slowing the blade at the last second she held it right at his throat, to show she had won the round. _I nearly killed him, what's wrong with me! _Sora seemed stunned, and slightly scared, but stood up and congratulated her, "Good job Kairi! That was stunning! Absolutely amazing!" Kairi was more scared than Sora. _Killing blow! What's wrong with me! _She went back to her castle, _the_ castle, she corrected herself. That night she slept badly, plagued by dreams of wolves, wheels, and swords of glass.

-

From the rooftop a figure watched. 'Interesting, she may be more than I thought. I believed she'd never recover from what they did to her.' The figure vanished into the night.


	3. World of Power

Disclaimer: I don't own Kindom Hearts of Wheel of Time.

Kairi walked down a darkened hallway, she was dreaming, she knew it for a dream, but it didn't end. Along the walls were paintings, seen clearly even in the darkness.

A world of Power. A land where flight was common, food and plants flourished, starvation was forgotten, and war had faded away. It was a utopia. Then, a great act, a hole was drilled in search of power. Darkness was released. Hatred was sown, death reigned and Light fought Shadow, the 13 champions of Darkness and their blood-thirsty troops fought the forces of light, and were winning, for dark power aided them. Then from the Light a champion rose bearing a banner with a dragon upon it. He gathered other men and rode to the hole, using their Power they sealed it and the thirteen, but their Power was tainted by the Darkness and they were consumed by madness, they ravaged and broke the world. Years passed and the darkness fell back. Alone, women of Power fought on. The time before darkness has faded into legend. The seal weakens, three young men fight to hold the seal, and bend the world itself with their presence. One walks among the wolves. One wields Power under the dragon banner. One gambles with the darkness, and walks among the ages.

This was the story told by the paintings, but it lacked detail. Walking on Kairi came to a room with 3 pedestals. Upon the first rested a crest with a wolf standing before a hammer and an axe.

_Power of strength, the power to destroy your enemies at close range, is this the power you seek?_

She examined the second, on it rested a circle with two pure halves, one white and one black connected by a sinuous line.

_The power of magic and its kin. The power to bend the world to your will. Is this the power you seek?_

Finally, she examined the third, upon it rested a crest, a silver fox head in front of a set of dice, with ravens on each side.

_The powers of the rogue, the power to deceive your enemies. Is this the power you seek?_

She walked back to the one with the circle, "I accept the power of magic and sacrifice the power of the rogue!" She woke up.

The Wheel of Time tuns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the age that gave it birth comes again. In one age called the third age by some, an age yet to come, an age long past, a wind rose in the Borderlands. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings but it was _a _beginning.

The wind swept down across a thread the wheel could not weave, a thread which could weave itself freely. It blew across the unconcious form of a young girl.

"Where am I?" Kairi looked around to find herself in an ice cold forest, it was snowing. Suddenly, a strange beast burst into sight. It looked human, except for the ram's horns, hooves, and claws. Pulling out her keyblade, she struck at it, and had it blocked. After several more strikes, she realized it would be difficult to kill with her keyblade, so she quickly pointed and yelled "Fire." Nothing happened. _Why won't it work? _She screamed as it was struck at her… and was stopped by a sword blade, in front of her stood a tall man with a rope around his forehead, he was about six feet tall, and wore a cloak which seemed to shift in color, concealing him to a certain degree. He dispatched the creature in three blows, unfortunately, she couldn't see his technique clearly. "Who are you?" she asked. He turned around, his face seemed to be all planes and angles, and as impassive as stone. "You may call me Lan, why are you here? The borderlands is no place for someone as untrained as you." She looked at him., "B_orderlands?" _she thought, but what she said was, " I don't know how I got here. What was that thing?" He looked at her quizzically, " No matter where your from, you should have heard of trollocs. Who are you?"

"I'm Kairi."

"Well, Kairi, why don't you join me at the fire?"

"Gladly."

They walked over to his campsite, sitting down, she asked him, "How did you kill it? I couldn't land a blow." "Where's your weapon?" Holding out her hand, she summoned her keyblade, "Right here." He looked shocked, "How?" "I don't really know." "Well, a weapon is only as good as its wielder, let's see how good you are, he threw a practice sword at her, it was clearly made for two handed wielding. She walked over to a clearing where he was waiting.

"Okay , first we'll learn basic blocking, try to stop my attack." He came at her with a horizontal strike, she used Sora's blocking technique. She stopped the attack, but was pushed back slightly, and left open, Lan came at her from her lower right, and struck her in the side, hard. "All right, try this, bring your sword hilt up to your shoulder, then across you body at a 40 degree angle across your body, then before the blow lands, push forward, to counter act their sword's momentum. This will stop a horizontal strike, use both hands. Then if he follows it up with a vertical strike, all you need to do is rotate the blade, and perhaps lower or raise you arms. However, these techniques aren't perfect, and must be adapted for different attacks. Try again." He swung, she brought up her guard and stopped the attack, he came at her from above, and she failed to block it. "Try again."

A month passed…

"Good job Kairi, most people take longer to master defensive techniques, but you could stop a hold off a halfman's attacks for half an hour at your level." Lan said, congratulating her. _Light, let us hope it doesn't come to that! _Lan wasn't finished yet though, _"_Now, you must learn to attack, swordplay is taught as sword forms, which are simply different attacks which have been named and seperated to ease training, they aren't necessary for learning, much less real battle, but they do. We'll start with "Parting the Silk" and "Boar Rushes Down The Mountain." Now, bring your sword to you left side and bring it up at about 95 degrees to you right shoulder." She attempted the form. "Not bad Kairi, but it was to large an angle, it needs to be closer to horizontal. That is "Parting the Silk." "Boar Rushes Down The Mountain" is the vertical equivalent. Try to perform it." She did. "Not bad, but, once again, the angle was off. Now try Parting the Silk…"

2 months later…

" All right, you've learned 10 of the basic sword forms. Now you will begin learning advanced forms, and finish the basic ones on your own time."

9 months later…

"Amazing Kairi. Amazing, only a year and nearly a blademaster already, it takes most people 2 or 3 years at least. We're going over to Shienar tomorrow for supplies, it will be you first time." _Lan is more emotional than usual, he's smiling and slightly hesitant right now, like this is odd, something embarrassing, but something he wants to do. _Lan looked towards her," Since you have no known origins, it would be looked down upon if you spoke to the King about being declared a blademaster, presumptuous, some would say. So, as is my right as King of Malkier, an uncrowned king of a dead nation, but still a king, I have arranged for you and your descendants to be recognized as being of the Malkieri. You are now Kairi, of the Malkieri house Mandar'teren." Kairi was in shock, "Lan, thank you, you can't imagine how much this means to me. Peace! Me, a Malkieri! Thank you so much, Lan. This means the world to me!" Lan seemed stunned by her enthusiasm, "You earned it Kairi, but we should rest while we can. We have a long ride ahead of us." Kairi was jolted out of her excitement for a moment, _Ride! As in, ride on a horse? Light! Best to get some sleep for now._

The next day Lan took her to the horses, and explained the basics of riding her horse, her _warhorse, _apparently, he'd decided to start her on the type of horse she'd probably ride most. It was a brown mare, large, but considerably smaller than Mandarb." Surprisingly, she had quite a gift for it, and stayed on without great difficulty, even at a gallop. That night as they started to set up camp they were attacked by 20 trollocs and 3 myrddraal. Lan quickly disposed of the trollocs and a myrddraal while Kairi killed the other 2 myrddraal without injury, an impressive feat. As Kairi caught her breath, Lan felt pride in his student rise to the surface.

3 days later they reached Shienar's capital. "So this is it, Fal Dara." The streets were busy and the number of people was overwhelming after 8 months alone with Lan. As he walked by the guards, they saluted Lan and Kairi. "Tai'shar Malkier!" _True Blood of Malkier _Kairi turned to them and repeated the gesture, "Tai'shar Shienar!" They appeared surprised, they hadn't realized she was Malkieri. For the last 3 days Lan had been teaching her proper etiquette for a Malkieri blademaster. "Okay Kairi, we're here," Lan said as they reached the palace, remember how to request the testing for being formally made a blademaster. As your teacher I can't interfere or judge you, and I must attend to some things. I'll meet you in the dining hall for dinner." He walked away. _So now I'm alone to face the Lord of Fal Dara. _She walked up the stairs, to the palace. Then down the halls to the lobby in front of the throne room. She turned to the guards, "On behalf of Al'Lan Mandragoran, Uncrowned King of the Malkieri, I request an audience with Agelmar, Lord of Fal Dara." The guard relayed the message. "You may pass." When she walked in she saw Lord Agelmar standing before her, "My lord, al'Lan Mandragoran requests my testing for the title of Blademaster. Will you agree to his request?" " Yes, the testing shall be performed by the Blademaster Balatar, who you will combat to prove your skill, if you achieve victory you will be granted the title of Blademaster. Do you agree to these terms." "Yes," She responded. Then proceed to the testing chamber, it was a simple room, with a large arena in the center, she stepped into the ring. Her opponent, a six foot tall man, in leather armor, stepped into the arena. She called the keyblade, and began the battle. Parting the Silk met Boar Rushes Down the Mountain, Lightning of Three Prongs met Parting the Silk, Rocks Falling Down The Mountain was blocked. The Moon Rises over the Lakes became Moon on the Water, evading the Heron Spreads Its Wings, making contact, and becoming Falling Leaf, becoming Leaf on the Breeze, ending with Moon Rises Over Water. Winning it for Kairi, who quickly dispelled the keyblade. Her opponent was injured, but not fatally. Agelmar turned to her, "You are now declared a Blademaster. Your teacher will give you your sword." Smiling at her, he left.

That afternoon, in the dining hall Lan asked her to meet him in the armory. Kairi, in light of your victory, and choice of weapon, a heron marked blade would only be an encumbrance, so I have something for you, he held up a key chain with a heron on it, " This will show your a blademaster, while the heron a sword would be better, this will be less trouble, just put it on you weapon to represent your rank. She attached it to the keyblade, and it transformed into a near copy of Lan's sword, with a heron on the blade. Lan seemed only moderately surprised, "That will work even better. I also had this prepared, I don't know if you can carry it with you, but here it is." He pulled aside a drape to reveal a full set of armor, much like his, with no helmet, and lighter plates. Stunned, Kairi looked to Lan, "Thank you, it is exquisite, I may not always be able to carry it, but I will when I can, and insure that is safe at other times. You have given me so much Lan, I wish I had something to offer in return." Lan smiled, " You've already given me a student I can be proud, a student who can carry on my legacy. You are always welcome at my home, and in my camp. Peace favor your sword." She smiled, "Peace favor your sword."

A year after parting with Lan, Kairi was sitting in a pleasant Ebou Dari inn, the Wandering Woman. It had seemed appropriate, although she was still just a girl, she hadn't aged since arriving, she didn't know why, but didn't really care either. After leaving Lan, she had started working as mercenary. She was somewhat well known, but not exactly famous either. She dabbled in Daes Daesmar, and was owed a few favors by certain nobles, mostly from Cairhein. There were rumors of a hunt for the horn, and she was considering taking the oath, there was little work, and she couldn't, she wouldn't take another profession. She'd recently heard her first alias, the name she was called by those who feared her, the Gatekeeper. They claimed her keyblade was the key to the gates of hell (they called it the Pit of Doom), for many of them it was. She thought of her old friends occasionally, but she was content here for now. Thankfully, she wasn't well known in Ebou Dar, and could move around normally, without being watched by everyone. She had gotten to know the innkeeper, Setalle Anan fairly well, Setalle was a bit chatty and annoying. _'Why do so many people talk so much really? They don't need to talk for an hour when a simple 'no' would suffice.' _Besides that though Setalle was quite pleasant. Kairi was about to ask for more wine when one of the customer staying upstairs fell down the stairs, landed on their head, got up and walked away without so much as a limp, if looking slightly flustered. It wasn't that surprising, she always seemed to see such things. She'd always wondered what caused them.

She started up again, walking towards the bar, but turned when she noticed a Cairhein woman with an ageless face. _'Aes Sedai, best to avoid her, they always cause trouble, I'm relatively string-free and want to stay that way.' _She was almost out the door, almost gone, when, "Young lady may I speak to you for a moment. We may speak in my chambers." She turned, it was the Aes Sedai. _'Might as well hear her out. She'd drag me their anyway.' _"Alright, lead the way." As they walked up the stairs, Kairi wondered why she was relaxed, shouldn't an Aes Sedai put her on edge? Once in the room she looked at the Aes Sedai, who calmly sat down in a chair and said, "My name is Moiraine and I am an Aes Sedai, I have heard of you, and am obligated to do certain things. First, I must inform you that you can channel." "What! I can't cha-" "Don't interrupt! Second, I am to promise, and do promise, not to seek to control you." Kairi was confused, why was she obligated to do that? "Thirdly I must train you to use your power. Lastly, I must give you this. I actually don't know why I should; it's blank." She pulled out a book and gave it to Kairi. Kairi opened it. There were words on the first page.

--If you are reading this then you are the next to walk my path. This book, among others, will help give you the knowledge to succeed, use it as you will. This path has many forks and many endings, tread carefully. As you grow new chapters will unlock. Once Moiraine is done teaching you, I'd suggest going to the woods south of Caemlyn; you may meet some of my old friends there.

P.S. Don't start acting like the other Aes Sedai, you'll need allies, and that will gain you none. --

Kairi laughed at the ending, but found the rest confusing. "Who gave this to you?" "An old friend from my childhood, he used to visit occasionally, one day he came by our home and told us he was leaving for a while, that he might not ever come back. He asked me to give the bearer of your weapon this, he said much would depend on this person and he had to give what help he could. Sometime later I got a message from him, he said I'd be leaving for Tar Valon soon and that if the wielder of that sword could channel, I must teach her, or help him learn if he was male, protect him from the reds. So here I am, all these years later."

Suddenly a voice spoke from behind her. A familiar voice. Kairi gasped in shock. "Moiraine, did you find who you were looking fo- light! Kairi, is that you? What happened? Moiraine! Why is Kairi here? I won't let you control her, you have me, the Aes Sedai won't have my student as well!

Kairi spun around at the voice. It couldn't be, he couldn't be here. "Lan!" It was him, he was actually here, and it took everything she had not to rush over to him. Moiraine turned silently and spoke, "Lan, what is the meaning of this?" Lan looked at her coldly, "I thought I made my meaning clear. Leave Kairi out of your plots!" Kairi grinned at him, "Don't worry Lan, I'm here of my own free will." He looked slightly taken aback at her calmness. Moiraine looked slightly confused, but it rapidly disappeared under a mask of Aes Sedai serenity. "Do you two know each othe-" There was a banging heard downstairs and a voice could be heard yelling. "Where is the Tar Valon witch! Tell me where she is and I won't burn this light-forsaken inn down!" Moiraine looked momentarily surprised, but quickly recovered, "Whitecloaks are here, Kairi come with us. Moiraine channeled earth to create footholds in the stone wall outside, Kairi quietly stepped down and got on a black stallion that she'd chosen for his similarity to Mandarb, named Manshima or "Sword" (She kept him in the inn's stable). Behind her she heard Lan and Moiraine mount as well. Moraine took off at a gallop, followed by Lan and herself. Kairi looked towards Lan, "What happened?"

"After you left I spent most of my time fighting Trollocs, my life lost purpose and I just wandered around with some old friends of mine. Later I met Moiraine and got caught up in an incident with the Black Ajah. After that was over Moiraine asked to bond me, I agreed."

"Never thought you would become a warder."

"What about you?"

"I've spent my time as a mercenary, I'm not exactly proud of it, but all I can do is fight. I've made quite a name for myself though, people started calling me the Gatekeeper."

Lan almost lost control of his horse at Kairi's announcement. "What! You're the Gatekeeper!" He laughed loudly at a sudden thought, "The Greens are going to be dissapointed they've all been looking for this "Gatekeeper" to become one of their warders!" She'd never thought Lan could laugh this much.

"Lan, are you okay?"

"Sorry, I'm fine. It was just because the Greens have been asking me for weeks who the Gatekeeper was, and now I find out that it's you. Did you know that, according to rumors, your six foot tall and wear black armor stained with the blood of your victims?"

"Somehow I'm not surprised by it, who'd want to admit they were beaten by a five and a half foot tall young women in leather armor? At least they got the black part right though."

Moiraine interrupted their conversation by stopping at a strange stone pillar. She turned towards Kairi, "Place your hand on the pillar and focus on this symbol, empty your mind till you see a light and then embrace that light, it will take us to a safe haven I've found. Kairi listened to her and emptied her mind, she could 'see' a strange light in the distance, she tried to grasp it. The whitecloaks were growing closer. It wasn't working. She turned her will against the light, drawing it to her, then finally successfully embraced the light and felt it rip through her, pouring into the symbol, fire burned her lungs and the wind sought to throw her off her feet. She felt the world shift and quickly lost conciousness.


	4. Reawakening

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Read and Review

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She stood before a door, it had a slight glow to it, she reached to open it, but felt her hand repelled, something felt odd, she didn't feel as substantial as normal, she looked down at herself, her body looked slightly ethereal, like it would disappear with a thought. 'Where am I?' On the ground were words in the Old Tongue, she knew enough of it to read, 'Station of Serenity.' 'Sora talked about a similar place once, perhaps the same one, but I saw him on the beach asleep at the same time he was there. This place isn't physical. He got his keyblade here… is this the heart…? If it is, then my emotions and will are power here, where they come from. She turned the force of her will against the door, silently commanding it to let her through. As she pushed against it, the barrier broke. She opened the door and stepped through.

-

Kairi awoke to see a most ghastly sight. The entire room she was in was pink! The furniture, the bed sheets, the pillows, the door, the floor, even the ligh—"Light! There aren't electric lights in this worl-Light! Where am I?" She took a moment and looked around, then she remembered this was her room in Radiant Garden. 'Was it all a dream?' She looked around, nothing had changed, and then she noticed the book lying on her bed. She opened it.

_--If you are reading this…-_-

She closed it gently, still confused. She heard a voice outside, Riku was calling her. "Hey Kairi! Come outside for a second!" She went outside and walked up to him, "What's up?" she said, trying to sound like her old self. "Sora tells me you have a keyblade, and, seeing as Sora has a tendency to just attack recklessly, I thought I'd give you a hand. She nodded and summoned her keyblade. Her heron-mark blade appeared, she quickly changed it when she noticed he wasn't looking at her at the moment. "Okay, I'm ready." Riku jumped back and summoned Way to Dawn. He came towards her, feinting to the left and swinging towards her right side. She countered with Boar Rushes Down the Mountain. On contact she was pushed back. 'Why? I know what to do, and I'm strong enough to—I'm not strong enough am I? The physical changes didn't roll over, only my knowledge. She quickly struck at his legs with The Falcon Stoops; he dodged and lunged towards her, in desperation she stuck her hand, focused her magic, and yelled, "Stop." Riku froze and she stepped out of the way, just as he broke free. He grinned at her, "So that's how it is huh?" He used dark aura to launch a fireball at her. As it flew she felt something change, like a lock being released. She could see the magical flows as he cast the spell. She raised her arm and gathered what dark power she could, focused it, and launched it at Riku's fireball. Dark flames wreathed her arm momentarily before coalescing into a dark fireball. It met Riku's in an explosion of dark fire, but even with her greater control, she lacked the darkness to overpower him. She launched herself at him; raising her keyblade she focused and launched a fire spell, hurling Riku backwards. Riku pulled himself up, looking shocked, he asked, "H-how did you do that?"

"I'm not really sure myself. Thanks for the practice though."

"It was fun, but you should ask Leon for a duel, he'll be more helpful than me. He arrived last night."

Kairi walked back to the RGRC headquarters. Leon was leaning against the wall. She turned to Aeris first though, "Aeris, how did you learn magic?"

Aeris smiled, "In Midgar we used objects called materia. They allowed us to use magic, and eventually learn to use it without them."

"Could I see one?" Aeris reached into her pocket and handed Kairi the Leviathan summon materia. "This will allow you to summon Leviathan. Use it well." Kairi left for Ansem's Study. Sitting down she ran threads of magic into the materia, just enough to elicit a response. She watched as the magic flowed through the materia. She started to understand, 'This guides magic based on the nature of the soul that created it. The magic forms the correct pattern and elemental changes to cast the spell, once someone becomes accustomed to this pattern they can perform it on their own. It will be useful in learning to summon.' She stood up and walked back towards the castle, only to be interrupted by Yuna and Rikku. The summoner-turned-annoying pest was asking if she wanted to buy anything, the trio (including a reluctant Paine) had recently opened a store to raise money after they realized their "treasures" had little value, and that they could find better items in other shops. If Kairi remembered correctly it was Yuna who sold her that horrific pink paint. "Yuna, could I buy some whi-actually, Paine, do you have any black paint or clothing?" Yuna and Rikku were shocked, while Paine looked to be reevaluating Kairi. "Right back here," she said, indicating there shop (a small store in the main courtyard) and leading her to the back room, "Rikku and Yuna can't stand anything dark, no matter how much people pay for it, and they refuse to display weapons, so my merchandise is kept back here. I'll get the paint, have a look around." Kairi closely examined the displayed weapons and armor. She selected an organization-style cloak ('How did she get this?') and a simple black outfit to wear underneath. There was a wide variety of weapons, ranging from daggers to battle axes. She grabbed a pair of simple knives with black hilts (virtually all of Paine's merchandise was black or dark-gray) and holsters to conceal them up her sleeves (a habit from the borderlands). Stopping at the swords, she lifted one with a dark gray blade and a skull design above the black hilt. Emerging, Paine stiffened momentarily before speaking, "That was mine before I-it used to be mine. I can't use it now though, and I'd rather know you had it than sell it to someone else, take it, consider it a gift."

"No, it's alright."

"I insist, I won't have some idiotic fool misusing my weapon."

"Thank you Paine."

Paine smiled slightly, then looked down, noticing the paint bucket. "Oh, here," she handed her the paint, "come again!" As Kairi entered the main room of the shop, the other shopkeepers suddenly tackled her. "Are you alright Kairi? Paine's mood is contagious, please tell me she didn't get to you." Rikku seemed to be panicking. "I'm alright, and please, stop talking as if Paine is diseased, just because she doesn't smile 24/7 doesn't mean she isn't pleasant to be around." Kairi grimaced at the mention of Rikku's normal attitude, eliciting a cry from Yuna, "Rikku, Paine did affect her, mourn for the loss of the Kairi we once knew!" Rikku fell to the ground, looking rather downtrodden. Kairi, growing quickly annoyed, went back to the back room. "Paine! Do you know why they act like that?" "Rikku does because she's Rikku, Yuna because of over-exposure to Rikku. Still, they weren't always this bad, it's a side effect of—they didn't used to be this bad." Sighing, Kairi left, slipping by Rikku and Yuna, heading for her—_the ­_castle. Stepping into her room, she took out the paint and set to work redecorating. She painted the door, closet, window frame, and bed frame black; replaced the drapes with black ones; switched the comforter for a black one that was left in the castle (undamaged). Next she painted the remainder white, with the exception of black baseboards, and replaced the other bed sheets with plain white (one again, salvaged). She quickly changed into her new outfit tucked the knives into holsters under her cloak. She took out Paine's sword and unthinkingly pushed magic into it, turning it into a skull shaped keychain, which she attached to her keyblade. Staring at the transformed weapon, basically the same as Paine's sword, plus the key-like bit, she wondered how she knew that. Shrugging, she laid back to sleep.

Kairi was woken several hours later by Sora, wanting to spar. Kairi smirked and walked outside.

Sora's PoV

'Where's Kairi?' Someone walked out of the building to his left. They were dressed in an organization cloak. "Who are you? Where is Kai—Kairi!" Kairi had just dropped her hood. "Kairi, is that you."

"I don't look _that_ different Sora."

"Kairi, I've never seen you wear black outside of a fu—oh no! Who died! Was it Leon? Is Yuffie all right? Riku is okay isn't he?" Sora yelled, falling into a panic.

--

"Sora, everyone is fine, this just was more practical. Besides, I got tired of all the pink." She'd expected Sora to be surprised, not assume someone died and panic. He really did jump to conclusions too easily. He still hadn't calmed down and Kairi decided to make him do so. "Blizzard!" Sora got his bearings in time to dodge, then he ran at her with ultima weapon. She drew Paine's Keyblade and met Ultima, with her other hand she slipped a knife out and brought it to rest at his neck. "I win."

-

Overhead, a figure watched the battle, "She's recovering quickly, good. I just hope she doesn't lose herself completely."


End file.
